Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-08-20

most wealthy, or JnS litlSt popular, VI VIC
most influential, and it is 'our' church, md
"ourn religious organization, and "our" choir,
nnd souri, minister, and tho man toss his
head and wants other denominations to know
their places 1t is great deal better in any
community when tho great denominations OF
Christians ore about equal i'll power, march
ing sido by side for the worlds conquest.
Mere outside prosperity, mere wo:ldlypower,
Is 10 evidence that tic church Is acceptable to
Col. Better O barn with Christ In. the
nlanger than cathedral with magnificent
barmonics rolling through the long drawn
aisles aud Oil angel from heaven III the pulpit,
il there be no Christ in the chancel aud no
Christ in the robes. Bigotry Is often the child
of ignorance.
You seldom find man with large intellect
who is bigot 1t is the man who thinks he
knows a great deal but does not That man
is almost always bigot. The whole tendency
Of education ind civilization Is to bring q
man out Of that kind Of state Of mind and
,heart. here was in; tho for east o great ODE
Use md zone side 81 stEeS 6Bdlisl was
Ar ae of tie obefisl2 Saiis
side Of the obelisk was blue. aud travellers
went and looked ut that obelisk, but they did
not wall, around it. One man looked ut one
side, another at another side, and they came
home each one looking at only one side. And
they happened to meet, the story says, and
they cot into q rank quarrel about the color
OF thut obelisk One man said it was wlute,
another man said 1t was green, another man
said twas blue, and when they were In the
very heat Of tho controversy a moro =intelil-
GENT traveller came and said sGcntlemen,
huye seen that obelisk. and you orc oil right
and YOU arc oil wrong. Why didn't you
walk all around the obeliskF'
Look out for the man WHO sees only one
side Of q religious truth. Look out for the
rnnn who never walks around about these
great theories Of Col and eternity aud the
Sead. He will be bigot iuovitably-the
man who only sees ono SIDE There Is no
man more to be pi.ied than no who has In
his head Just one idea-no more, no less.
Moro light, less sectarianism. There Is moth
ing that will SO soon kill bigotry as sunshine
Gods sunshine
RI. So have set before you what 1 con-
slider to be the causes Of bigotry. Ihave set
before YOU the origin OF this great evil.
What nre some of tho bnleful effects1 First
OF all 1t cripplcs investigation. You are
wrong. and am right, and that ends it. No
taste for exploration, ITO spirit OF investiga-
tlon. From the glorious realm of Coils
truth. over which Oil archnngel might ny
from eternity to eternity and not reach the
limit. the man shuts himself out and dies,
blinl mole under corn shock. 1t stops all
investigation
DENOMINATION Of Christians IL
to present all the truths of the Bible, it seems
to me that God has given to each denom'na-
ton All especial mission.to give particular
emphasis to some one doctrine; and so the
Calyinistic churches must present The sover-
eighty Of God, and the Artninian churches
must present mans free agency, and the
EpiscopaL churches must present the import
snce of order and solemn ceremony, and the
Baptist churches must present the necessity
of ordinances, and the Congregational church
must present the responsibility OF the indi-
yidual member, and the Methodist church
must show what holy enthusiasm, hearty
congregational singing cnn accomplish
While each denomination Of Christians must
sat forth all the doctrines OF tho Bible, feel
it is especially incumbent upon each denoml-
nation to put particular emphasis upon some
one doctrine.
Another great damage done by the secta-
rianism and bigotry Of the church Is that 1t
disSdsts people astian-Telig iens
Now. my friends, the Church OF God was
,eyer Intended for O. war barrncS. People
are afraid of riot. You go down the street
and YOU SEQ oil excitement, and missiles fly
inc through tue air, and you hear the shock
of firearms. Do you, the peaceful and In
dustlious citizen, go through that street,
sob, no!r you will say, all go around the
blocks Now, mem come and look upon this
narrow path to heaven, and sometimes see
tho ecclesiastical brickbats flying every
whittier, and they say, "Well, I guess IN take
the broad road; II it Is 60 rough, and there is
% much sharp shooting OH tho narrow road, l
guess I'll try the broad road"
Francis so hated the Luthcrans that he
said il he thought there was one drop of
Lutheran blood in his veins he would pune
ture them and let that drop out. Just as long
as there ia SO much hostility between denomi-
uution and denomination, or between one
professed Christian nnd another, OF between
one church and another, just so long men
will be Disguised with the Christian religion
and say, "lf that is religion, want none
of it,"
damage in the fact that they hinder the tri-
umph OF the Gospel. Oh, how much wasted
ammunition, how many men OF splendid In
tellcct have given their whole life to contro-
.ycrsial disputes, when, il they had given
their life to something practical, they might
have been vastly useful Suppose this morn
ing. while sreak, there were common enc
my coming up the bay through ths Narrows,
and all the forts around New York began to
FIRE into each otlier-you would cry out,
aNational suicidel why don't those forts
blaze away in Ole direction, and that against
tho common enelny1" And yet l sometimes
ses in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ
strange thing going on: church against
church, minister against minister, donomlna-
ton against denomination, firing away into
their own fort, or the fort which ought
TO be on the Same side, instead Of concentrate
ing their energy and giving one mighty and
everlasting volley against tho navies Of dark
ness riding up through the bny!
60 out sometimes in the summer, and
find two beehives, and these two hives are In
q quarrel 1 come near enough, not to be
st,ing, but come just near enough to hear
the controversy, and one beehive says, "That
field Of clover is the sweetest" and an
other beehive says, aThat field OF
clover is the sweetest" come In be.
tween them, and I say, "Stop this quarrel: if
Won like that field of clover best, so there; If
YOU like that field Of clover best, go there;
but LET ME tell you that that hive which gets
eae most honey is the best hive So come
out between the churches of the Lord Jesus
Christ One denomination Of Christians
says, ."rliut field Of Christian doctrLea IS
best,n and another says, "This field Of Chris
tian doctrine is bestn Well, say, "Go
where you get tho noss honey" That is the
best church Which gets the most honey of
Christian grace for tho heart, and the most
honey Of Christian usefulness for the life
Besides that, if you want to build up any
denomination, you will never build it up by